Latisha and Son Reunite as a Family After Six Years

Published: May 21, 2014

Little City Foundation provides Foster Care & Adoption Services for children who have disabilities and have been identified by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services as having been abused or neglected. As part of its mission, Little City is committed to recruiting and supporting foster/adoptive families to provide loving homes for children with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

With a responsibility to work with biological families in order to correct the reasons why children entered foster care, Little City strives to return children home to their families if or when it is safe to do so. Latisha and her son, Tarik, are one of the many families that have Little City has helped successfully reunite.

Latisha recalls the overpowering feeling of failure that consumed her the day Tarik, then four years old, entered the child welfare system.

"I felt like it was happening all over again," she said.

Latisha had grown up in the foster care system, often moving around a lot between different foster families. She had never truly developed a support system and often felt alone and unloved as a child. Determined to not let the same thing happen to her son, Latisha made it her mission to regain custody of Tarik. In doing so, Latisha engaged in parent-child therapy and individual therapy. She also completed a substance abuse treatment program and participated in weekly visitations with Tarik.

After three years of hard work, Tarik was spending the night at Latisha's house and his return home was in reach. Unfortunately, Latisha's struggle with self-confidence led her to engage in old habits, landing her in legal trouble.

"I knew deep down I wasn't ready to get Tarik back, I still lacked confidence in myself as a parent. I didn't want to fail him again," commented Latisha.

With the court looking to terminate parental rights, Little City fought for the court to give Latisha just one more chance. Little City successfully dissuaded the court from terminating her parental rights and Latisha would now have to start the return home process all over again, beginning with supervised visits.

Despite this setback, Latisha refused to give up. After a total of six years, Tarik was finally returned home. From this experience, Latisha has not only improved her parenting abilities and decision making skills, but she has finally found the support and love that had been absent from her life for so long.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help and support of Little City and Tarik's foster family-I have inherited another family," concluded Latisha.

To learn more about Little City's Foster Care & Adoption Program, visit www.littlecity.org/foster.

Keywords: Family, Foster Care, Foster Parent